DI Programs are based on years of research on how children learn and the most effective ways to teach. This work produced the two basic principles of effective instruction:
1) All children can learn when instruction is systematic, explicit, and efficient. Instruction must proceed in a logical and systematic fashion. Elements must be carefully sequenced so that students have the necessary preliminary understandings for new learning. The instruction must be very clearly presented to ensure that only one possible interpretation can result from the presentation. These elements help ensure that it is efficiently designed and will teach the maximum amount of material in the shortest amount of time. With systematic, explicit, and efficient instruction, students can mastery material more quickly and become more self-confident learners. Direct Instruction programs, developed by Siegfried Engelmann and colleagues, incorporate all of these elements of effective instruction. The programs are developed in a careful procedure that involves extensive logical analyses of the subject matter and strategies for testing the programs before they are published. These tests ensure that the programs are clear and explicit and that they efficiently present the material.
2) Poor achievement does not result from poor students, but from poor teaching. All students can learn. When students do not learn, the problem is not with the student, but with the instruction. Poor achievement occurs when material is presented in a confusing, illogical, or inconsistent manner. Years of research on how children learn show that even minor alterations in instructional presentations can produce confusion and slow children’s learning. Direct Instruction programs include extensive guidelines for teachers in how to present the material in ways that are logical, clear, and systematic and in ways that consistently reinforce children for their learning.
Project Follow Through, the largest educational experiment ever conducted, was the first large-scale documentation of DI’s superiority. Since that time many studies in a wide variety of settings have shown that children who receive Direct Instruction have significantly higher achievement, make more rapid educational progress, and have higher levels of self-esteem than students in other programs. Studies also show that as their students’ achievement increases, teachers who use Direct Instruction become more self-confident and assured of their professional abilities.
For more information on the history of DI, see:
Clear Teaching by Shepard Barbash
The National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI) provides schools and districts comprehensive training and support services designed to ensure that every child succeeds.
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The services provide teachers the skills they need to teach the Direct Instruction (DI) curricula, remediate student problems, and motivate students to be attentive learners. The services also allow administrators and teachers to monitor the state of the DI implementation and make changes weekly to the implementation based on student performance data and direct observation. Making timely adjustments based on student performance is key to ensuring that all students receive the most appropriate instruction daily.
NIFDI as an organization is much broader in its services than having school districts implement DI programs. NIFDI uses DI published programs to deliver curriculum content but provides a great deal more. NIFDI is an organization that offers a comprehensive approach to the education crisis in America by providing continuous administrative and curricular support to schools and districts as they implement DI programs with students who are performing or typically would be expected to perform below grade level. While working with these schools and districts with the ultimate goal of making them self-sufficient, NIFDI serves as a transforming agent to the schools, providing them with the content, skills, and organization required to achieve excellence in education.
Establishes a comprehensive, undiluted implementation of Direct Instruction school-wide and across all grade levels, beginning with school entry.
Builds a management team that involves the coordination of NIFDI and school personnel for the purpose of attaining a high level of student learning.
Accelerates all students and trains teachers in structural and instructional details that enable acceleration to occur.
Conducts preservice training of teachers before school begins and in-service training throughout the school year to meet needs and solve problems.
Each week uses experienced NIFDI personnel (by phone and/or person) to monitor student performance and provide assistance. A Project Director and Implementation Manager are assigned to each school to fulfill functions that are integral to a successful implementation of the model.
Trains district-employed personnel to provide on-site support and coaching.
Generalizes effective instruction to all areas of teacher/student interactions.
Gradually equips school districts and/or schools with tools, training procedures, and skills to maintain the implementation after the NIFDI assistance is faded.
Includes customized remedies developed by authors and implementors of the DI programs for curricular areas where student performance problems are noted.
Reading Mastery
Classic, Plus, Signature
Horizons
Corrective Reading
Funnix
Language for Learning
Language for Thinking
Language for Writing
Direct Instruction Spoken English (DISE)
Essentials for Algebra
Rewards
R.E.A.C.H
Understanding U.S. History
